Northern lights delight Dutch in surprise showing in north and east

The northern lights were visible over large parts of the north on Tuesday night, in particular on the Wadden Islands and north-east Groningen.

Dozens of amateur and professional photographs rushed to take pictures of the phenomenon, which is rarely seen in the Netherlands.

The northern lights are caused by solar flares as they unleash charged particles, which generate a geomagnetic storm if they hit the earth. Normally the phenomenon – which creates curtains of vivid colour – is only visible in lands close to the Arctic.

The northern lights were last properly visible in the Netherlands in 2005 although there were weak sightings at the end of last year. This time lapse video is made up of 50 pictures in a two-second relay and repeated. The photographs were taken on the island of Terschelling.